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Last night was Liverpool’s sixth annual Light Night, an exciting celebration of the cultural, artistic, musical, architectural delights of the city. Its a wonderful experience to see your own city become something of a miniature version of the Venice Bienale with so much to see and do.

Our night started at the beautiful Cunard Building for the Time Liners event bringing to life real stories about the excitement of sea travel, vintage wanderlust gold.

We stopped by Rococo Coffee House to see a children’s theatre group from Altru Arts perform as characters from Alice in Wonderland followed by a stop in the beautifully refurbished Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Listening to the Liverpool string quartet play In the Grand Foyer was wonderful and great for Light Night, giving a taste of classical music in their 20 minute performance.

Standing on the balcony of The Everyman Theatre was a first for me and the Anglican Cathedral had a fun Bollywood dance event and a light show projected on the ceiling called Kaleidoscopic Disturbance. There’s something very serene about laying on a Cathedral floor with strangers, all gazing at a giant Kaleidoscope, we loved it. Constellations in the Baltic Triangle had screen printing and a photography exhibition called Girlfriend by Michael James O’Brien. We had a break for some delicious chicken wings and a Früli beer there too. A lift malfunction at the Radio City Tower meant we couldn’t go up but we managed to get a pretty good view of the city from the roof terrace of the stunning Liverpool Central Library and spend a little while in the original Picton Reading Room.Cow & Co Cafe had a wonderful little exhibition of beer bottle label art in their beautiful shop which was definitely a highlight of the night. Light Night 2015, you were the best yet.

I had a girls date with my best friend on Tuesday night and we headed to this new place in Liverpool for a wonderful bit of Chinese weeknight indulgence.

The vibe at Miss Kitty’s has been described by its owner Rob Gutmann as being like a Shanghai tea house/opium den 100 years ago and as we walked up the candle lit stairs and entered the restaurant space I felt transported.

The low beamed ceiling and entirely exposed wooden decor makes you feel like you could be in a secret loft, the candles give the place a cosy glow and the smell of delicious food and incense permeates the air like a heavy, intoxicating fog.

What better way to peruse the mouth watering menu than with a dainty cup of hot Chinese tea served by an incredibly warm, friendly, attentive waiter? It also made a perfect pre-cursor to a deliciously potent cocktail.

No details have been overlooked at Miss Kitty’s, this really does feel like a special little place with its fish-print side dishes, bamboo placemats, steam baskets piled up ready to go, fish jugs with beautiful sprays of cherry blossoms on the tables… But don’t think it’s all traditional styling, there are no printed carpets here, just bright pink neons, exciting cocktails and the watchful eye of Miss Kitty herself, glaring from the exposed brick wall.

…and the food! Oh the food! My friend and I ordered a steamed Dim Sum selection that came with the most delicious dipping sauce, salt and peppa ribs that tasted great with a splash of hot sauce and chicken Katsu with curry sauce and pickled ginger that I could have eaten plates and plates of.

There’s a new coffee house on the block in Liverpool, except it doesn’t feel new at all. 92° felt like home as I sank into a big burgundy coloured armchair and tucked into a piece of delicious cake surrounded by bookshelves.

The decor is all fresh white walls and natural wood with a brilliant mural of a world map by local company Draw & Code behind the counter.

There are vintage vases stuffed with beautiful flowers next to industrial light fittings and huge windows, it feels like a country cottage that packed its bags and moved to New York City.

92° Coffee roast on site and have many varieties available for the most discerning of coffee aficionados. I opted for an afternoon pot of mint tea but the smell of fresh coffee was so inviting that I’ll be heading back soon for a cup of Joe. This place could be a new favourite.

Last night I had a little hump day date with my best friend, we have our favourite places but decided to try somewhere new-ish and ended up in Slim’s Pork Chop Express with a craving for cocktails and smoked meats.

It comes from the creators of the bar next door, a personal hotspot of mine and many others with it’s fun bar staff and sexy cocktails. They’ve managed to capture some of that vibe and take it to the restaurant along with a laid back slant and pared back decor of exposed wood & bricks. We loved it.

The lovely waitress did a good job of selling the smoked (in-house) meats to us and we settled down with an unexpectedly massive amount of food! Highlights were the house smoked pork link sausage and the coach Bombay fries that would make a substantially satisfying dish on their own.

The cocktails were excellent, but then they would be with the reputation and talent of the Slims team.
The Duck and Plum Old Fashioned was ace.

We couldn’t breath after all the meat and other deliciousness but after a perfectly timed wait we found a little more room for chocolate brownie and pistachio ice cream and we weren’t disappointed.

The folks here are so welcoming and I’ll be going back, without doubt. Highly recommended.